Kim Kardashian on Her New KKW Kits, Kanye’s Beauty Line, and What To Expect In 2018

KKW concealers are next!

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Nov 30, 2017 at 8:18am PST

Just days after a massively successful launch of three new fragrances, Kim Kardashian is back with a “glitzy” KKW Beauty holiday collection that is like nothing we expected. The five iridescent glosses and loose highlighting powders are called Ultra Light Beams, named after her husband Kanye West’s song from the album The Life Of Pablo. This new collection (launching December 1) marks the first time KKW has branched into true color cosmetics (other than contouring kits, she also has a few nude lipsticks). The glosses are thick-as-glue, unscented, but not sticky or tacky. While the loose powders are intimidatingly glittery in the tube, they apply like a whisper—not a wash—of shimmer. It’s safe to say that like the song they’re named after, Kardashian West is going to have another hit on her hands.

We spoke with the beauty mogul to discuss the Ultra Light Beams collection, the rumor about a Kanye West beauty line, and what North West really thinks of her mom’s sparkly makeup.

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Nov 28, 2017 at 11:00am PST

HB: Why was now the right time to launch the lip glosses and highlighting powders?KKW: “My glosses are more of a sheer gloss, but they have this pigment in it. It’s really pretty, but you can layer them with the highlighter, you can make it an eyeshadow and put the gloss on top, and have this really intense wet eye that looks really cool. Or I love just a gloss that looks juicy but not too much on your lips. That’s what my intention was. We’re selling them in sets together, and that is my version of a little stocking stuffer. I wanted a holiday collection to come out, just fun and glitzy for the holidays.”

HB: How long have these been in the works? Were you inspired by Pat McGrath or any other lip kits?

KKW: “It’s been in the works since the beginning really. Honestly when Kanye had his song called ‘Ultralight Beam,’ I thought, ‘Oh my god, there has to be a highlighter called ultra light beam.’ That was before I was even doing the contour, I had that idea. It’s been in the works for months. I got inspired by some random glitzy lip and eye that my stylist brought in. She always brings these references for what I want to do for hair and makeup. It’s these really old 2000s references, and they’re really cool. The highlighters can be intense, but the lips aren’t that intense. It’s really juicy and glitzy.”

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Nov 27, 2017 at 9:20pm PST

HB: How long did it take you to get the glitter off from the campaign shoot?

KKW: “Oh my god, we were mixing it with the highlighter, and it was just for the color effect. I took a shower and I completely flooded Milk Studios’s shower. I was trying to stay there and clean it up. They were like ‘Don’t worry, it’s fine, we see messes like this all the time.’ Like, I am not going to sit here and leave your whole entire shower with product everywhere!.”

HB: What is your favorite shade from the collection and how do you wear it?

KKW: “I think I like the bronze color, the rose is really pretty though, honestly it’s hard to choose. Mario [Dedivanovic] and I talk about it all the time, it’s so hard to choose.”

HB: Have you gravitated toward different shades since you’ve gone blonde?

KKW: “We used the iridescent recently, it really popped. I wore it to our fragrance launch. It was a little whiter for a lighter eye. We’ve been using the bronzes and roses for a while.”

A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian) on Nov 29, 2017 at 6:49am PST

HB: What will 2018 bring from KKW Beauty? I know you teased a collab with your makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic.

KKW: “I am really excited about my collab with Mario. We’re working on stuff we use as as our everyday stuff. Concealers—I was going to launch concealers next, but I really wanted to perfect it. So I think concealers will be next. We have amazing lip products and lip liners coming out. They’re not matte. They’re not glossy, they’re just really to me the perfect lipstick that stays on for so long. It’s a little bit creamy. But the perfect colors—the perfect colors. My makeup artists would always mix five colors to get the lip I am wearing for the day. I was like ‘You guys, I do not know how to recreate this.’ So I am going to make these shades.”

HB: There were rumors swirling at one point that Kanye was going to launch a perfume or beauty line. Any truth to that?

KKW: “I have no idea where that came from. That’s not true. He’s always talked about doing stuff like that, but I don’t think that anything is in the works.”

HB: Lipgloss is usually the product you’re introduced to first when it comes to makeup. Is North a fan of your new glosses?

KKW: “She loves it and she loves to play with the highlighters. The pigments are so bright, she will have it all over her eyes. And she loves glosses—she gets the gloss all over her face. She’s been getting better though. It’s so much fun and that she loves makeup so much, it’s really fun for me to watch. I’ll ask her, ‘Do you want to wear makeup today?’ She’ll say ‘Okay’ and I’ll use her fake little makeup so she thinks she has it on. On Halloween, she was Wonder Woman at school and she put on red lipstick. It just made her so happy, she wanted to bring the lipstick in her backpack. She kept asking me every five minutes, ‘Mom, is it still on?’ I’m like, ‘It doesn’t go away that quickly, yes, it’s still on!’ Luckily, auntie Kylie sends her favorite purple lipstick. Her favorite color’s purple, and she loves this purple lipstick that Kylie has. We’re fully stocked.”